U.S. citizens may be asked to present a "certificate of good conduct" or a "police clearance certificate" for a variety of reasons in Taiwan, such as when applying for an Alien Permanent Resident Certificate (APRC). Also, U.S. citizens applying for a Taiwan residence visa based on a marital relationship with a Taiwan national may be required to obtain a police clearance certificate.

The Taiwan National Immigration Agency (NIA) recommends that U.S. citizens acquire an FBI clearance for visa/ APRC purposes. FBI clearances are referred to as FBI Identification Records or Criminal History Records. For instructions from the FBI on requesting this, please click here.

If your FBI Identification Record will be used in applying for a visa/APRC, it must be authenticated by the Washington D.C. location of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representation Office (TECRO) (Consular Division) before being presented to the NIA. Click here for TECRO’s Washington DC Office website. Obtaining the FBI Record and having it authenticated by TECRO in Washington, DC will take at least one month. The NIA will accept visa/APRC applications before the police clearance process is complete.

You also have the choice of obtaining a local police clearance from the U.S. locality where you last resided. However, this will only be accepted by the NIA if it is a nationwide clearance. Local police department clearances may be authenticated by any of TECRO’s U.S. locations. Please refer to the website of the Washington DC office (above) for the addresses and phone numbers of the TECRO nearest you in the United States.

The procedures for requesting local police records vary by jurisdiction, so please check with your local police department for instructions. U.S. law enforcement authorities may not be familiar with such a procedure since this is not commonly requested. You should request that the police conduct a criminal records search and provide you with a document reflecting that there is no history of a criminal record (or with the appropriate history) in the U.S.

AIT cannot take fingerprints this purpose. You can do this in Taiwan at a local service center of the Taiwan National Immigration Agency (NIA) www.immigration.gov.tw (for a fee). FBI requires that you use a standard fingerprint form (FD-258) which is available for download from the FBI website cited above. Please refer to the website of the NIA for more information on police clearance certificates related to APRC application and for the addresses and phone numbers of each city/county service center in Taiwan, their hours and fees.

Once you have the authenticated certificate here in Taiwan, you may then need to have it translated into Chinese, and have that translation notarized by a Taiwan public notary.

For more information from the U.S. Department of State, please click here.